You’re going for paint that is completely flat, no ripples; like a mirror. But how do you know if you’ve sanded enough right away with 600 grit, and not have any surprises while you’re buffing. There are a couple answers.
First, is to check visually. The most obvious start is to dry the panel off after sanding, and you will be able to see if there is still unsanded orange peel. But, even if it’s all sanded, doesn’t mean it will look completely flat once it’s shiny again.
Next, if you squeegee the water off the panel, you will be able to sight down the panel, looking at how light and object reflect off of the paint. You really need to look a lot and move around a lot to catch it from every possible angle.
Feel. If you’re using hard blocks, like our True Blox wet sanding blocks, you will be able to feel most of the texture as you’re sanding. It will feel slightly bumpy. For the most part, if it’s flat, it will feel completely smooth while you’re sanding. This isn’t fool proof, so you should still sight down the panels to check.
Hours & Hours & Hour of practice. You should always check your work, no matter how much you’ve done, but after quite a while, you will have a much better feel for this, and find yourself going back and re sanding a lot less.
Always strive to do your best work! The goal is to help you be your best.
